


From What the Future Veils

by Agent25



Category: Black Panther (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Dora Milaje, BAMF T'Challa (Marvel), Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Wakanda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 15:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11293200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent25/pseuds/Agent25
Summary: Hoping to spend her summer making a difference in war torn South Sudan, Dr. Vivian Gallagher never imagined the possibility of an unprovoked attack landing her in the mysterious Kingdom of Wakanda. Now a guest of its king, Vivian will encounter a world she's never seen before. As an outsider she will be placed at the center of intrigue and danger as the isolated Wakanda begins its first steps into the wider world. On top of that she will have to fight her attraction to Wakanda's Crown Prince and greatest protector.





	From What the Future Veils

**Author's Note:**

> "And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here." - Neil Gamain

“Stop fussing.”

“I’m not fussing.” Vivian Gallagher insisted for the umpteenth time as she ran her fingers nervously over her yellow and black graduation robes. Today was the day. After four laborious and grueling years at John Hopkins School of Medicine she’d finally be a doctor.

No more Miss Gallagher or even Ms. Gallagher, from this day forward she’d be Doctor Gallagher, MD.

It had a nice ring to it.

Of course it was only one more step in the lengthy journey she had to becoming a general surgeon.

But hey, it was the little victories that needed to be celebrated. And this was definitely worth celebrating.

Now only if her mother felt the same….

“Ow!” Vivian gasped when her hand was slapped down from running her fingers through her hair.

“Ah, ah, stop it. You’ll ruin your curls,” May Gallagher asserted sternly as she eyed her only child suspiciously.

“I spent an hour and a half curling them and I won’t let you ruin my hard work.” Beguiling her own words May reached up and parted Vivian’s hair, letting the thick locks fall down her back. She nodded in silent approval before circling her daughter to ensure not a single hair or thread was out of place.

The daughter of Chinese immigrants May Gallagher was staunchly single minded in every pursuit from backgammon to neighborhood gossip. When she wanted something done it got done yesterday and if it wasn’t to her high standards than it might as well not even exist. Rumor had it that when she took one look at Vivian’s father at a roller rink in 1983, the petite Asian woman had made up her mind, stalked up the tall and pale Irish American boy and exclaimed for all to hear, “You, I’m going to marry you.” And true to form eight months later the pair were married and building a love nest in St. Paul, Minnesota. According to May, if one was not focused then they were just cast adrift and heading towards indifference.

If there was one thing her daughter was going to be it was determined and dedicated to greatness.

Now outfitted in an ivory afternoon dress with a shawl adorning her thin shoulders May Gallagher was ready to watch her pride and joy receive a diploma from one of the best medical schools and the country, and the cherry on top was that Vivian was graduating a year early. 

Yes, her little _shǎguā_ had potential after all.

“You look acceptable,” was all she said as she stepped away from Vivian who was quick to look once more at her bedroom mirror that had come down from the wall and was not leaning against her dresser. Her tiny room of the last two years was jam-packed with cardboard boxes, her parents had arrived two days before and had spent that entire time packing up Vivian’s life in Baltimore to get ready to drive back to the North Star State.

The cozy two bedroom townhome on Chapel Street was what Vivian had called home in the Fells Point neighborhood. It had been her sanctuary from the craziness that had been medical school and now it was stripped bare of anything resembling Vivian’s life.

Her mother said one must always move forward, never look back.

With one final fidget of her robes she was ready to step into the future.

Walking into the living room of the townhome she found her father messing with his striped tie. Decked out in a tweed blazer that had seen better days and once fit a thinner body, Colin Gallagher stood several inches taller than both his wife and daughter. He was in his silver fox stage with wisps of grey hair at his temples, crow feet around his eyes and laughter lines stretching across his jovial face. A mechanic down to the very bones in his body, Colin only ever felt comfortable outfitted in roomy overalls with a fine layer of grease and oil underneath his fingernails. He never did not smell of propane.

Some of Vivian’s favorite childhood memories involved Sunday mornings and afternoons spent in the Gallagher garage, tinkering and toying with various car engines while rock & roll crooned through his CCRadio-EP.

Colin finally took notice of his two ladies entering the room and when he set his dark eyes on his daughter they lit up and he whistled lowly as she walked towards him.

“Looking spiffy kiddo,” he enthused as he put his arm around her and took her in fully. Vivian chuckled away the light blush developing on her cheeks.  

“Thanks Pops, but you can be real with me. I look like a bumblebee.”

Colin coughed away a snort as May shot him a look from across the room as she rearranged her shawl.

“Well, you’ll be the prettiest bee out of the hive,” he replied with a wink and shoulder nudge as May clapped to get the pair’s attention.

“We need to leave now, I want a good parking spot.” She sauntered to the front door and easily slipped into her heels as father and daughter shared a secret smile and made to follow the Gallagher matriarch. Vivian resisted the urge to drop to the floor to strap into her wedges but knew that would be a no-no under the hypervigilant eyes of her mother. Instead she made do by leaning into the wall and feeling a bit like a newborn giraffe as she tried to find her footing in the four inch wedges. She knew she should have broken them in first before the ceremony.

If only….

Following rickety down the two flights of stairs to her mother’s Honda Cr-V she sat in the back and listened as her parents lightly bicker back and forth on whether or not Colin had remembered to charge the digital camera.

“I don’t want a repeat of the 2008 debacle.” May reiterated as Colin rolled his eyes and sought out a parking spot.

“How many times do I have to apologize for it? We still got a picture of her before the ceremony.”

“Your forgetfulness stole memories from me, I won’t have it again.”

The couple was still bickering as they parked and waved Vivian off as she raced into the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to join her fellow classmates. Feeling like a fish in a very big pond, Vivian followed the swarm of black and yellow bees as she squished and squeezed past fellow graduating students and finally found her spot in line behind Aimi Furuya.

“Did you run a mile to get here Gallagher?” Aimi good-naturedly teased with a playful smirk as she took in Vivian’s disheveled appearance and wrinkled robes.

“Hardy har-har, everyone’s a comedic.” Vivian replied as she brushed herself off in an attempt to halt the wrinkles. But not even creases could stop her good mood and soon she was nearly bouncing in place, a smile on her face.

“Can you believe it?” she whispered to Aimi as the Dean tried to grab the graduates’ attention as the ceremony was about to begin, “We’re going to be full-fledged doctors after today.”

Aimi scoffed as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and plucked her cap on her head as the line began moving forward.

“Please, this is the easy part. The next five to seven years will be hell on earth.”

“You’re doing your residency in neurosurgery right?”

Aimi nodded the affirmative as the line slowly moved forward, “Yep, at UCSF. I tell myself that San Fran will be a great city to sight see during my free time, but let’s be honest I’ll have no free time. You’re going into general surgery, correct?”

“At Mass General.”

“Your parents must be ecstatic.” Aimi dryly remarked, standing on her tiptoes to peer ahead. Vivian was proud of her foresight and her four inch wedges, even if she was close to toppling over at any given moment.

“Please,” Vivian rolled her dark eyes as she was jostled forward by Henry Gardiner behind her. She shot a glare his way before continuing her furtive whispers with Aimi.

“All I’ve heard since I got in is how unfortunate it is I only got into the #2 school in the country and ‘Really Vivian, how hard is it to get into John Hopkins? You’re already there. I knew that B+ in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases would bite you in the ass, my little _shǎguā_.’”

Aimi stifled a laugh before regarding Vivian for a moment.

“Asian mothers.” She said to Vivian and it was like meeting her soulmate.

“Asian mothers,” she agreed solemnly as the two shared a fist bump and turned their attention forward, the line finally moving through the aisles of the symphony hall, dark except for the hundreds of cameras firing off light every few seconds as snaps of filters echoed throughout the vast space. Soon enough she was settled in a truly uncomfortable seat, she wiggled in and was prepared for the long haul of the several hours’ long graduation ceremony. At least MD graduates came before the PhDs.

Time moved slowly as she endured every speech, pomp and circumstance that game with a John Hopkins School of Medicine graduation ceremony. Her feet were asleep and she had a crick in her back by the time her row was allowed to stand make their way to the stage. She clapped loudly for Aimi and felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach as she waited for her moment in the sun.

“Vivian Moira Gallagher.”

Her name reverberated throughout the hall as Vivian moved across the stage, pleading to herself silently not to trip and face plant in front of the Dean. She was pretty sure the hooting she heard coming from the darkened audience was her father. He had a habit of treating all of her achievements like sporting events. He had worn face paint and everything to her high school graduation.

Vivian was sure that may have been one of the few times her mother ever considered castrating him.

She made sure to smile big in the direction her parents had claimed they would be sitting in as she shook the Dean’s hand, turned towards the crowd and had the black velvet collar placed around her shoulders and was ushered to where her diploma was waiting for her.

In total she had been on the stage maybe 45 seconds, but it had felt like a lifetime. Four years of blood, sweat and tears all done in 45 seconds. The loss rebounded in her torso as she clambered down the steps and retook her seat next to Aimi who shot her a thumbs up.

The rest of the ceremony passed in the blink of an eye and she next found herself wandering through the hall, past hugging classmates and proud parents and flashing cameras as she tried to hunt down her parents.

“There’s our bumblebee!” She heard her dad’s booming voice over the din of the crowd and she turned seeing her parents standing off to the side. She rushed to them and was swept up in a bear hug from her dad.

“Good job kiddo, or should I say Dr. Kiddo now?” he teased giving her an extra squeeze before releasing her as she playfully punched his shoulder.

“Let’s at least be grown up about this Pops, its Dr. Kid now.”

There was a clearing of a throat and the pair turned to see May scrutinizing them both as she stepped forward and held out her hand, wordlessly asking for Vivian’s diploma. Vivian was quick to deliver it as her mother read through it and only offered a loaded ‘mmm’ in return.

She lowered it and looked at her daughter for a long moment as Vivian resisted the urge to fidget, her mother always knew when she fidgeted.

“You did well.”

Coming from her mother these words felt like a ten page report written on her accomplishments.

“Thanks mom,” Vivian beamed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Of course the moment couldn’t last between mother and daughter.

“I only wish you’d reconsider your residency and go into something more worthwhile, like cardiology or neurosurgery.”

“You only know what those are because you watch _Grey’s Anatomy_.” Vivian fired back as May glared, her nostrils flaring, a tell-tale sign Vivian was toeing the line.

“That may be so, but I know lucrative when I see it and everyone wants to be Christina Yang, not that whiny and annoying Meredith Grey.”

“The show is about Meredith Grey, it is literally named after her.”

May opened her mouth to retort but Colin was quick to interrupt the impending battle of wills.

“I think we can all agree that the show went downhill once they killed off McDreamy.”

Two pairs of dark eyes turned to the Gallagher patriarch as he flushed at the admittance of watching the show, but he shouldered on through like a real man.

“Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve just spent the last four hours sitting with my knees in my stomach. And I’m hungry to boot. Any restaurant recommendations kiddo?”

Vivian sighed and nodded as her mother turned on her heel and began marching back to the family SUV. Vivian watched her go warily as her dad slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

“Don’t fret bumblebee, your mother… she just wants you to reach your full potential.”

“She’s been wanting me to reach my potential since I was three and I have yet to succeed in her eyes, I doubt I’ll be doing it anytime soon now that I’m 26.”

Vivian sighed and looked down at her painted toes. She looked up as her dad softly batted her chin.

“Chin up kiddo, she’ll come around. Now come on, I’m starving.”

As if to prove his point his stomach gave out a mighty roar as Vivian giggled and pushed her dad away. He gallantly offered his arm and the pair walked arm-in-arm out into the sunshine of the late spring day.

**Author's Note:**

> shǎguā - fool, silly
> 
> Vivian Gallagher:  
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157032205@N05/36762507731/in/dateposted-public/)
> 
> May Gallagher:  
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157032205@N05/36762507761/in/dateposted-public/)
> 
> Colin Gallagher:  
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/157032205@N05/36762507811/in/dateposted-public/)


End file.
